Former Norton CEO pays £ 14m to retirees and may go bankrupt

The court rejected the appeal of the former CEO of Norton.

Fast-forward to late June 2020, when the UK Pension Ombudsman formally announced that former Norton Motorcycles CEO Stuart Garner should pay around £ 14m to some retirees who got stuck on Stewart’s schemes. In fact, there is a rather confusing story there. Regular retirees invested in three schemes of the former CEO at once, which, after the ombudsman’s investigation, turned out to be unfair and illegal.

In July 2020, Garner gave his first interview and said he was confident that the missing funds would be returned after the sale of the Norton Motorcycles business. A report was later published that seemingly confirmed Stewart’s words.

Let’s go back to our time. Norton Motorcycles has new owners actively developing the British brand, while Stewart quietly filed an appeal to challenge the ombudsman’s decision and lost.

In August, the court ruled to defer the repayment, which said: “The debt is too large, so it is clear that Garner will not be able to pay it, as a result of which he will be declared bankrupt.” At the moment, it is known that Leicester City Council has already filed for bankruptcy on behalf of Garner.

Stewart will also appeal against the £ 180,000 that the Ombudsman claimed in compensation for non-pecuniary damage. Whatever this story ends, gullible pensioners who may be left without their money suffer the most.